Yale Opera Doris Yarick Cross, artistic director
OPERA SCENES October 28–29, 2011
Robert Blocker, Dean
Yale Opera presents
OPERA SCENES scenes from Così fan tutte, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Roméo et Juliette, Les Troyens, La Traviata, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Giulio Cesare, I Puritani, Iolanta, & La Bohème
Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
october 28 & 29, 2011 sat & sun · 7:30 pm
marc verzatt stage director douglas dickson · timothy shaindlin musical preparation & direction john carver sullivan costume design william b. warfel · john chase lighting design wendall k. harrington projection design supervisor Projections designed by students of the Yale School of Drama projection design program
Friday, October 28
Così fan tutte Excerpt from Act 1 Music by W.A. Mozart Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Palmer Heffran
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Fiordiligi Dorabella Don Alfonso Guglielmo Ferrando Despina
catherine affleck, soprano kelly hill, mezzo-soprano andrew craig brown, bass-baritone nathan milholin, baritone jorge prego, tenor lisa williamson, soprano
This is Mozart’s most sensitive work concerning relationships and the fragility of human nature, particularly the young and in love. Two soldiers swear that their fiancées will remain faithful to them forever, but their mentor and friend, Don Alfonso, wagers that the girls are as human as the men themselves. The men deceitfully tell the women that they must leave for battle, but return disguised as new suitors. The two women try to resist, but they are encouraged by their maid, Despina, to merely allow the new suitors the chance to spend some time with them. Dorabella falls for her sister’s fiancé, while her own lover desperately pursues her sister, Fiordiligi. The men come back as themselves, but all have changed and grown from this challenge, and have more mature ideas about themselves and each other. brief pause
Friday, October 28
I Capuleti e i Montecchi Excerpt from Act 1 Music by Vincenzo Bellini Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Paul Lieber
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Romeo Giulietta
annie rosen, mezzo-soprano jenna siladie, soprano
This is quite a different version of the Shakespeare story, based more closely on Shakespeare’s original source, The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, a narrative poem by Arthur Brooke. Nothing is known of Arthur Brooke’s life except that he died in a shipwreck while en route to New Haven (!), in East Sussex, England in or before the year 1563. In this extended duet, unlike Shakespeare’s (and Gounod’s) more familiar balcony scene, Romeo begs Giulietta to abandon her family on the evening of her wedding to Tebaldo (Tybalt), and leave with him. Giulietta invokes her family heritage and her honor, claiming that it is impossible for her to forget them. intermission
Friday, October 28
Roméo et Juliette Act IV Music by Charles Gounod Performed in French with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Hannah Wasileski
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Roméo Juliette
roy hage, tenor lisa williamson, soprano
In Verona, Italy, the rivalry and hatred between the Capulet and Montague families has become a threat to the peace of the city. The daughter of the Capulets, Juliette, and the son of the Montagues, Roméo, have fallen in love, and have been secretly married. In a street brawl, Roméo’s kinsman, Mercutio, is killed by Juliette’s cousin, Tybalt. Roméo, in turn, slays Tybalt, and Roméo is banished from Verona. To escape another marriage, Juliette is given a sleeping draught by the monk who married the couple. It gives Juliette the appearance of death, and her parents have buried her in the family vault. Roméo has not received word from the monk of his plan, and he believes Juliette is dead. He takes poison just a moment before Juliette awakens from her lethargy. Juliet stabs herself, and the lovers die together. brief pause
Friday, October 28
Les Troyens Excerpt from Act II Music by Hector Berlioz Performed in French with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Edward Morris
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Anna Narbal Didon Iopas Enée Mercure
annie rosen, mezzo-soprano alexander hahn, bass vivien shotwell, mezzo-soprano galeano salas, tenor samuel levine, tenor aaron sorensen, bass
Queen Dido has been driven out of Phoenicia, and the king, her husband, has been murdered by his brother. She has founded a city on the north shore of Africa, and Carthage is thriving under her rule. Aeneas and his followers arrive from the city of Troy, destroyed by the Greeks. Dido and Aeneas fall in love, even though Dido has made a vow of celibacy and Aeneas’s destiny lies in Italy to re-found Troy in the Roman province. Dido’s minister Narbal expresses his concern for the inattention Dido pays to the city. Her sister Anna, however, is overjoyed that Dido has found love again. Following an after-dinner entertainment, at which Iopas sings a ballad of his own composition, Dido and Aeneas are left alone, declaring their love for one another. brief pause
Friday, October 28
La Traviata Act IV Music by Giuseppe Verdi Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Adam Rigg
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Violetta Annina Dr. Grenvil Alfredo Germont
jamilyn manning-white, soprano kelly hill, mezzo-soprano aaron sorensen, bass jorge prego, tenor cameron mcphail, baritone
Verdi’s most noble and self-sacrificing heroine, Violetta Valéry, lies dying of tuberculosis in her Paris apartment. Her lover, Alfredo, denounced her publicly as a prostitute, unaware that his own father had insisted Violetta leave him and her sojourn with him in the country to protect his family’s honor. Her protector, the Baron Douphol, has been injured in an illegal duel with Alfredo, who has left France to escape the law. As Violetta’s last moments draw near, Alfredo and his father return to her. Violetta gives Alfredo a miniature portrait of herself, telling him to marry again and that she will pray for him in heaven.
Saturday, October 29
Il Barbiere di Siviglia Excerpt from Act II Music by Gioachino Rossini Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Edward Morris
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Count Almaviva Bartolo Rosina Figaro Basilio
galeano salas, tenor alexander hahn, bass vivien shotwell, mezzo-soprano nathan milholin, baritone aaron sorensen, bass
Rossini’s perennial comic gem concerns Count Almaviva’s wooing of Rosina, who is the ward of Doctor Bartolo. Bartolo himself intends to marry Rosina for her youth, beauty, and wealth. The barber, Figaro, acts as a go-between for Rosina and Almaviva. He informs Rosina of Bartolo’s marriage plans, and then introduces Almaviva – first as a drunken soldier looking for lodgings in Bartolo’s house, and then as Alonso, a substitute for Rosina’s music teacher, Don Basilio. A series of hasty cover-ups and switches collapses when Bartolo recognizes Alfonso as Almaviva.
brief pause
Saturday, October 29
I Puritani Excerpt from Act I Music by Vincenzo Bellini Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Matt Otto
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Riccardo Elvira Giorgio
cameron mcphail, baritone jamilyn manning-white, soprano aaron sorensen, bass
This brilliantly beautiful bel canto opera plays fast and loose with English history: Elvira, the daughter of the Roundheads, led by Oliver Cromwell, has fallen in love with a Cavalier, Arturo, of the Royalist faction. Her father has betrothed her to the captain of the guard, Riccardo, but relents when his brother Giorgio pleads that Elvira will die if she is forced to marry him. Giorgio breaks the news to Elvira just moments before Arturo arrives at the fortress to claim his bride. brief pause
Saturday, October 29
Giulio Cesare in Egitto Excerpt from Act I Music by George Frideric Handel Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Kristen Robinson
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Cornelia Sesto Tolomeo Cesare Achilla
kelly hill, mezzo-soprano annie rosen, mezzo-soprano alexander hahn, bass vivien shotwell, mezzo-soprano andrew craig brown, bass-baritone
Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy are rivals for the regency of Egypt, newly conquered by Julius Caesar. As a token of flattery, Ptolemy sends Caesar the severed head of Pompey, whom Caesar had defeated in battle. This act repulses Caesar and causes him to distrust and disfavor Ptolemy. Pompey is mourned by Cornelia, his wife, and Sextus, his son, who swears revenge. Achilles, Ptolemy’s captain, falls in love with Cornelia and tries to woo her. As she repulses his advances, he condemns her and her son to prison. intermission
Saturday, October 29
Tolanta Excerpt from Act I Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Performed in Russian with projected English translation Musical direction by Douglas Dickson Projection design by Kristen Robinson
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Iolanta King René Vaudémont
jenna siladie, soprano andrew craig brown, bass-baritone samuel levine, tenor
King René’s daughter Iolanta has been blind from birth, but he and his court have kept this a secret from her. Now in her very early teens and approaching womanhood, Iolanta wonders about the world around her and suspects that there is more to life than she has been led to believe. Prince Vaudémont comes upon her sleeping in her garden. He praises her as a vision and angelic appearance, but she tells him she doesn’t understand what he means by such words that connote sight. He asks her to pick him a red rose, but when she gives him a white rose, he realizes she is blind. He tells her that she is missing God’s light in the universe, but she assures him that she has no need to see God’s light from the outside, since she experiences it from within.
brief pause
Saturday, October 29
La Bohème Excerpt from Act III Music by Giacomo Puccini Performed in Italian with projected English translation Musical direction by Timothy Shaindlin Projection design by Solomon Weisbard
Cast, in order of vocal appearance Marcello Mimì Rodolfo Musetta
cameron mcphail, baritone catherine affleck, soprano galeano salas, tenor lisa williamson, soprano
Based on the popular novel Scenes of the Bohemian Life, the mid-1850s precursor to Rent is the story of young love amongst artists and young female factory workers in the Montmartre section of Paris. The story focuses on the lovers Mimi and Rodolfo and on the relationship between Musetta and Marcello. In this scene from Act III, Mimi walks miles to a remote inn to ask Marcello’s advice: she and Rodolfo have had another huge quarrel. Marcello tells her that he and Musetta work at the inn, and that Rodolfo showed up late the night before and immediately fell asleep. He advises her to leave so that he can confront Rodolfo, but Mimi remains and overhears Rodolfo’s conversation with Marcello. Rodolfo knows that she is extremely ill, although she is in denial about it, and he wants her to find someone better off financially than he is to support her. Hearing Mimi weeping and coughing uncontrollably, he tries to comfort her, but she bids him farewell and asks that he send the concierge to return her few possessions. Musetta is heard entertaining a guest, which puts Marcello into a rage. Musetta leaves Marcello as Mimi and Rodolfo pledge to wait until springtime to separate, for “no one is alone in April.”
Biographies
Marc Verzatt
John Carver Sullivan
A stage director and acting coach, Mr. Verzatt maintains an active career directing opera, operetta, and musical theater throughout the United States, South America, and Europe. He made his professional directing debut with a production of Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann with Opera Columbus. He has since directed productions with the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, Chicago Lyric Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and the opera companies of Fort Worth, Lake George, Madison, Arizona, Toledo, Atlanta, Kansas City, Baltimore, Idaho, and Mississippi. For the Austin Shakespeare Festival, he directed Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Recent stagings have been Toledo Opera’s Candide and concert stagings of Verdi’s Macbeth and Mozart’s Don Giovanni for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.
John Carver Sullivan returns to Yale Opera, where he has designed the past two seasons’ opera scenes productions, as well as La Tragédie de Carmen and Le Rossignol. His long association with Colin Graham and Opera Theatre of St. Louis has included designs for world premiere productions of The Woodlanders, The Village Singer, and The Postman Always Rings Twice, among many others. He has also designed the Broadway production of Moose Murders, off-Broadway productions at the York Theatre of The Musical of Musicals – The Musical, Little By Little, and The Jello is Always Red, and multiple productions for the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. His theatrical work includes productions for Goodspeed Opera, the Alley Theatre, Berkeley Rep, and the Folger Library Theatre. Mr. Sullivan currently serves as the Chair of the Theatre Department at Southern Connecticut State University.
Stage Director
Mr. Verzatt has taught and directed at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, Indiana University, Ohio State University and Notre Dame University. He has directed many Yale Opera productions, including Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Orchestra Verdi in Milan, as well as five oneact operas in Sprague Hall, and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica, Strauss’s Die Fledermaus and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Shubert Theater. In 2005 he returned as guest artist to the Metropolitan Opera for an acting role in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. In 2006 he was named Outstanding Stage Director of the Year by Classical Singer magazine. He joined the Yale School of Music faculty in 2002 where he teaches acting and movement. At Bard College’s Vocal Arts Program he is the Director of the Acting and Movement Workshops and is on the Graduate Advisory Board.
Costume Designer
William B. Warfel Lighting Designer
William B. Warfel has done lighting design and production management for over 30 Yale Opera productions since 1978. He was Co-chair of Design and Professor of Lighting at the Yale School of Drama from 1967 to 1993 and is currently in private practice as a lighting designer and theater consultant in Hamden, CT. A graduate of both Yale College and the School of Drama, Mr. Warfel taught at Dartmouth College and Long Island University and worked in the lighting profession in New York City prior to returning to the New Haven area. He has lectured and taught in Finland, China, Egypt, Iceland and Sweden and has worked on consulting projects in Scotland, Nigeria, and Ecuador. Mr. Warfel is a founding member of the International Association of Lighting Designers.
Biographies
Douglas Dickson
Timothy Shaindlin
Douglas Dickson received his B.A. degree from Princeton University and his M.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. On various occasions the Washington Post has called him an “intelligent, sensitive” pianist with “super technique,” a “skillful pianist,” and has praised him for his “finely integrated oneness” he achieves as an accompanist. Mr. Dickson has performed in the US, Europe, Asia, South America in venues ranging from Japan’s Expo Hall to the Cincinnati Coliseum.
A native of New York City, Timothy Shaindlin joined the Yale School of Music faculty in 2008. After studies at The Juilliard School and Indiana University, he worked for the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, San Diego Opera, Wolf Trap Opera and Pittsburgh Opera. He has also coached for Glimmerglass Opera, Sarasota Opera and Hawaii Opera Theatre. In Europe, he worked for Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu and played master classes for Tito Gobbi. He has played classes and coachings for such artists as Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson, Beverly Sills, Marilyn Horne, Natalie Dessay, Ben Heppner, Luciano Pavarotti, Carlo Bergonzi, Eleanor Steber, Samuel Ramey, Regine Crespin, Thomas Hampson and Frederica von Stade.
Musical Preparation and Accompaniment
While still in college, he was the accompanist for the American Boychoir. As part of Duodecaphonia, a prize-winning piano duo, he has performed at the Kennedy Center and elsewhere. Mr. Dickson has been music director for productions at Quinnipiac University, the Yale School of Drama, Opera Theater of Connecticut, and Connecticut Experimental Theater. He was music director and conductor for Yale Opera’s production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, and he conducted a concert featuring Yale Opera with the Orchestra Verdi in Milan. He has taught at Quinnipiac University since 1993, and joined the Yale faculty in 1998. He made his Carnegie debut in an all Ives concert at Weill Recital Hall. For Naxos, he recorded more than eighty Charles Ives songs.
Musical Preparation and Accompaniment
Mr. Shaindlin’s work on the podium includes conducting engagements with the Wolf Trap Opera Festival, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Light Opera Works and Eugene Opera. He has assisted such renowned conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Andrew Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev, Richard Bonynge, Bruno Bartoletti, Donato Renzetti, Louis Langrée, Edoardo Müller, Yves Abel, Daniele Gatti, Antonio Pappano and Paul Gemignani.
Biographies
Wendall K. Harrington
Projection Design Supervisor Wendall K. Harrington’s career has embraced diverse disciplines including Projection design for theatre, publishing and video production. Broadway designs include: Driving Miss Daisy, Grey Gardens, They’re Playing Our Song, The Elephant Man, My One and Only, The Heidi Chronicles, The Will Rogers Follies, Having Our Say, Company, Racing Demon, Ragtime, John Leguizamo’s Freak, The Capeman, Putting it Together and The Who’s Tommy. Off Broadway work includes: Angels in America, Hapgood, A Christmas Carol at the Paramount; Merrily We Roll Along (three times!) and the illfated Whistle Down the Wind. Opera design: Julie Taymor’s The Magic Flute in Florence, Italy; A View from the Bridge at Chicago Lyric and the Met, Die Gezeichneten at LA Opera, The Photographer at BAM, Transatlantic, Grapes of Wrath, Rusalka, and Wuthering Heights for Minnesota Opera. Ms. Harrington is the recipient of the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the American Theatre Wing Award, the TCI Award for Technical Achievement and the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Projections. Ms. Harrington has been lecturing on Projection Design for the Yale School of Drama since the early ‘90s.
Student Profiles
Catherine Affleck soprano
Nathan Milholin baritone
B.A., Bishops University; M.M., University of British Columbia; Artist Diploma, The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music
B.M., University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Andrew Craig Brown bass-baritone
B.M., Vigo Conservatory (Spain); M.M., Hartt School of Music; Artist Diploma Roosevelt University; Young Artist Programs: Santa Fe Opera, Chicago Opera Theater
B.M., Millikin University; M.M., Yale School of Music
Roy Hage tenor B.M., Oberlin College Conservatory of Music; Young Artist Programs: Chautauqua Institution Voice Program, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Alexander Hahn bass B.M., Mannes College of Music; Young Artist Programs: Chautauqua Opera
Kelly Hill mezzo-soprano B.M., University of Northern Iowa; Young Artist Programs: Santa Fe Opera, Central City Opera
Samuel Levine tenor B.M., Oberlin College Conservatory of Music; Young Artist Programs: Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Aspen Music Festival
Jorge Prego tenor
Annie Rosen mezzo-soprano B.A., Yale College; M.M., Mannes College of Music; Young Artist Programs: Central City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera
Galeano Salas tenor B.M., University of Houston; Young Artist Programs: Wolf Trap Opera
Vivien Shotwell mezzo-soprano B.A., Williams College; M.A., University of Iowa; Young Artist Programs: Calgary Opera
Jenna Siladie soprano B.M., Stetson University; Young Artist Programs: Franz Schubert Institute, Baden bei Wien
Jamilyn Manning-White soprano
Aaron Sorensen bass
B.M., Utah State University; M.M., Arizona State University; Young Artist Programs: Glimmerglass Opera
B.M., University of Nebraska at Omaha; M.M., University of Houston; Young Artist Programs: Glimmerglass Opera
Cameron McPhail baritone
Lisa Williamson soprano
B.A., University of British Columbia; Artist Diploma, University of British Columbia
B.M., Peabody Conservatory; Performer’s Certificate, University of Connecticut; Young Artist Programs: Chautauqua Opera, Connecticut Opera
Yale Opera Production Staff
marc verzatt Stage Director
jim clark Properties Master
john carver sullivan Costume Designer
mark krasnov Master Electrician
william b. warfel Lighting Designer
melissa matto Wardrobe Manager
erika niemi Manager
laura eckelman Projection Programmer and Operator
theresa stark Production Coordinator
jill brunelle Surtitle Operator
laura lynne gonzalez Stage Manager
kelly hill Student Assistant
Special Thanks
Yale School of Drama Long Wharf Theatre Southern Connecticut State University Ivoryton Playhouse The Foote School Wendall K. Harrington and her projection design students Nick Romano Linda Clark
Yale Opera 2011-12 Season
Così fan tutte
Master Class with Alan Held
february 10, 11, 12
november 7
Shubert Theater Fri & Sat at 8 pm | Sun at 2 pm Yale Opera announces a new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, conducted by Speranza Scappucci and directed by Justin Way. Performed in Italian with English translations. Tickets $19–$41, available at www.shubert.com or 203 562-5666.
Morse Recital Hall | Mon | 7 pm The renowned bass-baritone from the Metropolitan Opera works with students in the Yale Opera program.
Liederabend december 12 Morse Recital Hall | Mon | 8 pm An evening of German art song featuring the rising stars of Yale Opera.
Liederabend march 22 Morse Recital Hall | Thu | 8 pm An evening of French art song featuring the rising stars of Yale Opera.
The Rape of Lucretia april 27 & 28 Morse Recital Hall | Fri & Sat | 8 pm Yale Opera presents a new production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, with stage direction by Vera Calabria and musical direction by Douglas Dickson and Timothy Shaindlin. Tickets $10–$15, Students $5.
Upcoming Events
Linden String Quartet
Kyung Yu & Elizabeth Parisot
october 31
november 2
Morse Recital Hall | Mon | 8 pm The graduate quartet-in-residence performs Schubert’s Quartettsatz in C minor; Berg’s String Quartet, Op. 3; Kelly-Marie Murphy’s Dark Energy; and Ravel’s String Quartet in F major. Free Admission
Morse Recital Hall | Wed | 8 pm Faculty Artist Series Kyung Yu, violin, and Elizabeth Parisot, piano. Mozart: Violin Sonata in B-flat major, K. 378; Respighi: Violin Sonata in B minor; Ravel: Violin Sonata in G Major; and music by Fritz Kreisler. Free Admission
Yale Brass Trio New Music New Haven
november 1 Morse Recital Hall | Tue | 8 pm Faculty Artist Series Allan Dean, trumpet; William Purvis, horn; Scott Hartman, trombone. Music from the Renaissance to today by Dufay, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Ezra Laderman, and Astor Piazzolla. With Mihae Lee, piano. Free Admission
november 3 Morse Recital Hall | Thu | 8 pm Featuring music by two faculty composers. Ingram Marshall: September Canons, with violinist Todd Reynolds; Martin Bresnick: Going Home - Vysoke, My Jerusalem, with the Double Entendre music ensemble. Free Admission
Concerts & Public Relations: Dana Astmann, Danielle Heller, Dashon Burton New Media: Monica Ong Reed, Austin Kase Operations: Tara Deming, Chris Melillo Piano Curators: Brian Daley, William Harold Recording Studio: Eugene Kimball WSHU is the media sponsor of the Yale Opera at the Yale School of Music. P.O. Box 208246, New Haven, CT · 203 432-4158
Robert Blocker, Dean
music.yale.edu